Here’s A Twenty Page Academic Paper On Menswear Archetypes

Wow guys, my editors actually made me read a 20 page academic paper on the use of visual merchandising and the importance of masculine icons of popular culture to sell clothing. TWENTY. FUCKING. PAGES. So, I guess, you can consider this my first #Menswear Book Report.

The aim of this article is to break down the socio-cultural memes that retailers use to bombard the male consumer to convey notions of authenticity and masculinity. The authors note that the cultural memes or archetypes most employed by brands and retailers can be broken down into four primary memes: The Rebel, The Cowboy, Joe College and The Blue Collar Worker. While they use a bunch of big words and shit to explain the significance and impact of these archetypes, the authors could've probably just looked at any issue of Free & Easy to figure this out and save themselves a shitload of time. I'm pretty sure a friend of mine has had his photo taken for Free & Easy one timeand it was legit captioned: "Happy Seaman." LOLZ, but also accurate. Also, I'm pretty sure Fuck Yeah Menswear, like The Simpsons, did it first.

Not to be a complete dick and dismiss this massive academic undertaking, but the main thrust of this paper is slightly dated (I mean, who's still that into Americana, amirite?). I would love to read the authors' take on the current landscape of menswear, which is currently playing with hemlines, skirting and leggings. I guess those memes would be, like: Mr. Chico's, Size-Zip Pip, Lil Megging and Lord Diaper Butt.

BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. Download this bish right now and plagiarize it for the sociology class you took an incomplete in because you're a lazy bastard.